Drone pilots emerge as next sought-after profession in China

A drone carrying a 40-kilogram hand of bananas swiftly lifted off from the rugged mountains in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan. The feat was accomplished by Li Xianquan, who, at 40 years old and after two decades of hauling goods by truck, traded the steering wheel for a remote control to become a drone pilot.

In 2024, when the low-altitude economy took center stage in tech and venture investment circles, innovations like eVTOL aircraft or flying cars were quick to capture imaginations and spark market excitement.

But what unfolded in Li's hillside orchard – where local farmers have always prioritized practical, real-world solutions that deliver a tangible difference – went beyond a flashy display of technological prowess.

Bananas from mountainous areas tend to be sweeter. However, manually carrying the fruit down steep mountains often causes bruises and damage, leaving them less competitive compared to imports.

Over 94 percent of the land in Yunnan is sloped, with nearly 46 percent of arable land on a slope of over 15 degrees, said an official from the province's agriculture department.

"Without the help of drones, I would never dare to cultivate on such steep mountainous terrain," said a banana grower who leased this sharply sloped terrain in Yuxi, Yunnan Province. As a result, Li's expertise in operating drones positioned him as a key competitive advantage for the banana orchard.

Unmet demands

A growing number of individuals, ranging from drone hobbyists to skilled operators in drone-based pesticide spraying, are shifting to jobs like that of Li. Drone delivery represents a brand-new business with a vast unmet demand for skilled operators.

By June 2024, China had recorded 1.875 million registered drones, yet only around 225,000 licensed pilots were available.

China's drone market is forecast to experience continuous growth from 2024 to 2029, surpassing 600 billion yuan ($81.9 billion) by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.6 percent during this period, according to an industry report.

The country's enormous domestic market has fostered a vast pool of over 15 million couriers. Shifting even a portion of their workload to drones would still require a significant amount of manpower.

Starting with the delivery of life-saving organs, serum and emergency medication, to power grid inspection, glass curtain wall cleaning and transporting seafood across the sea to delight people's palate, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) express is broadening its scope of operations.

Licensing boom

Zeng Yan, an admission officer at Shanghai Funtastic Drone Training School, has noticed an obvious increase in inquiries about license training in recent months.

"Inquiries have jumped from one or two a week to two or three daily, with about half of them enrolling," said Zeng.

Funtastic's training program for multi-rotor drones lasts between 18 and 28 days, with costs varying from 9,800 to 15,800 yuan, as shown on its admission website.

Despite the high charge, the training has maintained its allure with promising job prospects and attractive salaries of a licensed drone operator.

The mini program "I Am a Drone Pilot" on messaging app WeChat connects drone operators with jobs nationwide. Monthly salaries offered in the program vary from 5,000 to 10,000 yuan based on roles, and some jobs include daily 200-yuan subsidies for field operations.

A 2024 statistic has shown that about 350 vocational colleges across the country now provide a three-year program in drone application technology, aiming to train more specialized professionals.

New farmers

While factories in China's eastern coastal cities reduce the number of workers by ramping up automation, emerging technologies such as UAVs are opening up new job prospects in the countryside, the primary source of the country's millions of migrant workers.

The drone fleet in Zigui, a county in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province, has grown to a considerable size. The county, renowned as the "hometown of Chinese navel oranges," now boasts more than 500 drones, and its count of drone pilots has grown from a previous 50 to more than 1,000 at present.

Most of these pilots are young people returning from cities to their rural hometowns, primarily in their 20s and 30s. Called "new farmers," they are bringing new technologies to the countryside while replenishing the aging and shrinking rural labor pool.

"Older farmers used to carry oranges on their back across the steep terrains, a hard labor that few young people today are willing to do," said Wang Jiaxin, who switched from hairdressing in Shenzhen to transporting navel oranges with drones in his hometown.

A drone can transport 50 kilograms per trip, spanning 200 meters horizontally in just one minute, compared to the 30 minutes it would take a person to carry the same load, said Wang.

Human carriers cost around 0.8 to 1 yuan per kilogram, compared to drones at just 0.4 yuan per kilogram, according to ZTO Express, a logistics firm which utilized drones for navel orange delivery.

"My phone kept ringing from dawn to dusk," said Wang, referring to the flood of orders from local farmers during the harvest season.

(With input from Xinhua)